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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Weaving to wear

Hello, friends. I'm taking a leap this summer and entering a one-of-a-kind piece in the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Summer Fair. Instead of a scarf or shawl or other loom-controlled wearable piece, I've decided to weave fabric yardage and then cut it all up and sew it!

I've cut my handwoven fabrics before:

and it has worked out okay. (This is one of my little kiss clasp purses, the fabric is a herringbone variation).

My entry for the summer fair is a men's wool waistcoat. Today I started to nail down some of the details (i.e. yarn selection and pattern). I don't want something too visually "busy" for what I hope will be a classic piece but don't want it to be boring, either. Here's one plan, a herringbone plaid variation:

Well. Maybe not.

. Maybe this would be more appropriate:

This draft is from Davison's "Handweaver's Pattern Book," "Ginny's Coat." I think I'm leaning more toward this design. Of course, I could make life easy and just weave a plain weave fabric, using the same yarns in warp and weft:

2 comments:

Your first draft is lovely but I love the second draft - makes me think of traditional men's clothing. Are you planning on weaving with wool or something else? Looking forward to seeing your journey to finished product and of course a first place ribbon!

Wool, Thistle Rose Weaving, definitely wool! I'm using Harrisville Shetland -- supporting the woolen mill right here in my home state of New Hampshire. "Ginny's Coat" is the winner - at least as of this morning. Happy weaving, Martha!